Bobbin exchange mechanism of a yarn winder

ABSTRACT

An improved bobbin exchange mechanism of a yarn winder, particularly a device for catching an end of supplied yarn upon a fresh bare bobbin after doffing a full packaged bobbin and mounting a fresh bare bobbin upon a winding mechanism of a yarn winder.

[451 Dec. 11, 1973 nited States Patent [191 Torii 242/18 PW 242/18 R 242/18 R 242/18 PW UX Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Assistant ExaminerMilt0n Gerstein Attorney-Robert E. Burns et a1.

[21] Appl. No.: 185,673

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 9, 1971 Japan 46/33737 n r a y a f 0 m B n a h c e T m e m g n R m H c B X A e .m b b o b d e V 0 r P m 1 .1 7

n U A 2 0D 01058 W 5 3 a R "1. 8 m H m 2 m1 4 l 2 2 4 m2 mmh nuc .r. a e 8 1 CH S m U| .F HUM 555 winder, particu1ar1y a device for catching an end of 242/18 PW supplied yarn upon a fresh bare bobbin after doffing a full packaged bobbin and mounting a fresh bare bobbin upon a winding mechanism of a yarn winder.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Brink 242/18 R 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHECI I 1975 3.777.996 SHEET 1 BF 3 BOBBIN EXCHANGE MECHANISM OF A YARN WINDER The present invention relates to an improvement of a bobbin exchange mechanism of a yarn winder, more particularly, relates to a device for catching an end of a supplied yarn upon a fresh or empty bare bobbin after doffing a full packaged bobbin and mounting a fresh bare bobbin upon a winding mechanism of a yarn winder. The above-mentioned catching device of the present invention is preferably applied to a winding machine with a spindle drive. Consequently, in the following illustration, the present invention is mainly explained in connection with a spindle winder, however, the catching device of the present invention can be successfully applied to other windong apparatus. The above-mentioned term spindle winder" represents a yarn winder provided with at least one winding unit comprising a spindle for mounting a bobbin and a traverse frame which guides a supplied yarn to the bobbin, and the traverse frame is displaced during winding from its original working position which corresponds adjacent to a bare bobbin to a doffing position to a full packaged bobbin.

In a conventional spindle winder such as shown in US. Pat. No. 1,799,153 or U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,534, when the bobbin exchange operation is carried out, it is troublesome to catch the end of the supplied yarn upon a fresh bare bobbin, because the operation is usually carried out manually. Further, in the case of winding apparatus such as a take-up machine for synthetic filament yarn where the take-up motion is required to be carried out continuously, the above-mentioned difficulty becomes a serious problem. To improve the operation, the application of certain mechanical device has been attemped. One example is disclosed in a copending patent application, Ser. No. 4,243, now US. Pat. No. 3,695,521. However, if the winding mechanism comprises a single driving spindle per single winding unit, it has been heretofore impossible to find a practical device. Consequently, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a device for catching an end of supplied yarn upon a fresh bare bobbin mounted on a driving spindle after completion of the doffing operation of a full packaged bobbin, and in which the bobbin exchange operation can be carried out effectively. A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for catching an end of the supplied yarn on a fresh bare bobbin mounted on a take-up spindle whereby continuous take-up can be effectively carried out in producing synthetic filament yarn.

The catching device according to the present invention is provided with means for temporarily holding the free end of a supplied yarn so that the yarn is positioned along a predetermined path, means for hooking a portion of the yarn positioned along the predetermined path and re-positioning this portion at a second predetermined position when a winding mechanism is displaced to its working position adjacent to a bare bobbin mounted on a driving spindle and, means for catching the yarn portion displaced to the second predetermined position while driving the spindle. The abovementioned catching means is rigidly mounted upon the free end of each bare bobbin mounted on the driving spindle. The above-mentioned holding means works to make a stretched yarn path in combination with a yarn sliding guide bar rigidly mounted on a traverse frame or cam box. Further, the hooking means is turned from its receded position near the bracket holding the transverse frame to its working position in accordance with the above-mentioned displacement of the traverse frame. Consequently, when the traverse frame is displaced to its working position adjacent to the fresh bare bobbin mounted on the driving spindle, i.e. the hooking means is turned from its receded position to its working position, a yarn running along the second yarn path caught by the catching means of the driving spindle. In the above-mentioned condition, the yarn portion between the yarn sliding guide bar and the hooking means is automatically caught by a traverse guide of the traverse frame, consequently, the normal winding operation is commenced. In the accompanying drawings,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the catching device which is mounted on a spindle driver winding unit, according to the present invention,

FIG. 2A is a side view of a part of a catching means of the device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the catching means taken along a line 23-28 in FIG. 2A,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wedge mechanism for controlling the turning motion of the traverse frame shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the wedge mechanism, partly in section, shown in FIG. 3,

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are explanatory side views of the winding unit shown in FIG. 1, by which the motion of the catching device of the present invention are illustrated respectively.

In FIGS. 1, 2A and 28, showing an embodiment of the catching device according to the present invention, a yarn sliding guide bar 2 is mounted above a cam box or traverse frame 4 of the winding mechanism. The yarn sliding guide bar 2 extends adjacent to a bobbin holder 1 which is secured on a spindle (not shown), however, the yarn sliding guide bar 2 does not extend beyond the free end of the bobbin holder 1. Further, the yarn sliding guide bar 2 is provided with an S- shaped portion formed at its free end. A suction means 20 is mounted on a machine frame 5 at a lower side portion below the bobbin holder 1 as shown in FIG. 1. The suction means 20 is provided with a suction aperture 19 at its free end which extends beyond the traverse frame 4. A shutter mechanism for opening or closing the aperture 19 is disposed in an inside position adjacent to the suction aperture 19 and is manually actuated by a handle 36. A straight horizontal portion of the yarn sliding guide bar 2 functions to guide a yarn supplied from a supply source through a guide roll 23 (FIGS. 5A, 5B 5C) so as to lead it to the traverse guide mentioned already, and further the S-shape curved portion of the yarn sliding guide bar 2 functions to locate the yarn path toward the suction aperture 19 when a bobbin exchange operation is carried out. A holding stud 6 for holding the transverse frame 4 is horizontally secured to the machine frame 5 and onto the bar 6 is turnably mounted a bracket 7 which supports the traverse frame 4. A bracket 8 is rigidly mounted on a free end portion of the holding stud 6. The bracket 8 is provided with a boss 9 and mounting a conducting lever shaft 10 rotatably. A yarn conducting lever 11 is rigidly supported at its lower end by the shaft 10. The yarn conducting lever 11 is provided with a curved portion 11a formed at its free end portion so that a yarn 39 extended between the suction aperture 19 and the S- shape portion 2a of the yarn sliding guide bar 2 can be arranged like the yarn path shown in FIG. 5C from that shown in FIG. 5b when the conducting lever 11 is turned from its waiting position toward the yarn suction means 20. A sprocket wheel 12 is secured to the shaft 10. A lever handle 14 is turnably supported on a horizontal shaft 15 rotatably mounted at both ends thereof on a frame of the bracket 7, so that when the portion 14a of said lever handle 14 is manually moved so as to approach a projection 22 of the bracket 7 then the lever 14 can be turned counterclockwise about the horizontal shaft 15 (in FIG. 1). A lever 35 is secured to the horizontal shaft 15 at a position facing a top free end portion 14a of the lever handle 14, and, as hereinafter described, when the pull lever 35 approaches or moves toward the projection 22 of the bracket 7, the rocking mechanism as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 cooperating with the inside portion of a hollow guide rail 24 is released according to the counterclockwise rotation of the hori- 'zontal shaft 15, so as to angularly displace a bracket 27 freely along the the bracket 27 mounted on the bracket 7 can be displaced from its full packaged position or doffing position B to its original position A, by maintaining an appropriate contact pressure of a package formed upon the bobbin 3a with a roller 21. To accomplish this releasing of the rocking mechanism a lever 32 is mounted on one end of the shaft 15, and at a top portion of said lever 32 a small horizontal shaft 33 is provided, onto which a pair of pushing levers 34a, 34b are turnably mounted. The normal turning motion of the traverse frame 4 during the winding operation can be also accomplished via this rocking mechanism via a displacement of the wedge 29, which displacement is induced by the increasing diameter of the bobbin. The wedge mechanism 25 has a similar mechanism to that shown in a copending application, Ser. No. 4,243, now US. Pat. No. 3,695,521. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the wedge mechanism 25 is provided with a bracket 27, which is rigidly secured to the bracket 7. A supporting member 28 mounted on the bracket 27 is slidably held within a hollow guide rail 24 which has a longitudinal slit opened below, consequently, the bracket 27 can be displaced along the longitudinal slit so that the bracket 7 and traverse frame 4 can be turned about the holding stud 6. To attain the appropriate contact pressure between the bobbin surface and the roller 21 during the winding operation, a balance weight or tension spring can be mounted so as to always pull the traverse frame 4 toward the bobbin 3a. However, it is also required to restrict the free displacement of the bracket 27 along the above-mentioned holow guide rail 24. This restriction is attained by the wedge mechanism 25, which comprises a wedge 29 and a pair of rolls 30a, 30b and a pair of springs 31a, 31b which always urge the respective roll 30a, 30b to the corresponding wedge surfaces 29a, 29b and inside surfaces of the hollow guide rail 24. The wedge 29 is secured upon the supporting member 28 and the springs 31a, 31b are arranged between a vertical wall 28a of supporting member 28 and the roller 30 a, 30b respectively. Each roller or roll 30a or 30b is positioned in the respective wedge space defined by the wedge surface 29a or 29b of the wedge 29 and the inside walls of the hollow guide rail 24 in such a way that the ends of the pushing levers 34a, 34b can push the respective rolls 30a, 30b towards the vertical wall 280 against the force of the spring 31a, 31b.

Consequently, when the shaft 15 is turned counterclockwise (in FIG. 1) by pushing the lever 35, the pushing levers 34a, 34b push the corresponding rolls 30a, 30b toward the vertical wall 28a so that the wedge action of the rolls 30a, 30b in cooperation with the wedge 29 and the inside walls of hollow guide rail 24 can be released, in other words, the traverse frame 4 can be turned freely about the holding stud 6. A chain 13 is engaged with the sprocket wheel 12 and an end thereof is connected to a tension spring 16 while the other end 13a thereof is secured to the bottom end of the lever handle 14, and the other end of the spring 16 is secured to the bracket 8 as shown in FIG. 1. In the abovementioned mechanism, when it is intended to displace the traverse frame 4 from its doffing position B that is its position when the package is full, to its starting position A for the winding operation, the lever handle 14 is turned so as to release the above-mentioned wedge mechanism 25. Therefore, when the lever handle 14 is turned manually together with the lever 35, the shaft 15 is turned while displacing the wedge mechanism 25 within the hollow guide rail 24. In accordance with the above-mentioned turning operation of the lever handle 14, the chain 13 is pulled righward in FIG. 1 and the connecting portion of the chain 13 with the spring 16 is pulled leftward in FIG. 1, while the spring 16 is stretched by the above-mentioned pulling motion of the chain 13. Consequently, the sprocket wheel 12 on the conducting lever shaft 10 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 so that the yarn conducting or guiding lever 11 is turned from its waiting position as shown in FIG. 5A to its working position as shown in FIG. 5C by the counter-clockwise turning motion of the conducting lever shaft 10. In the above-mentioned illustration, it may be noted that the above-mentioned waiting position of the yarn conducting lever 11 corresponds to the position of the traverse frame 4 when the package becomes full size, while the working position of the yarn conducting lever 11 corresponds to the position of the traverse frame 4 when a fresh bare bobbin 3a is mounted on the bobbin holder 1 and the traverse frame 4 is positioned its starting position for winding operation. When the yarn conducting lever 11 is turned, the lever 11 crosses a straight line between a hook portion of the S-shape portion 2a of the yarn sliding guide bar 2 and the suction aperture 19.

The bobbin holder 1 is provided with a pair of notches 1a, lb as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B which are formed at a free end portion thereof. A catcher 17 is secured to each notch 1a or lb. The catcher 17 is made of a thin metallic plate having a hook which catches a yarn in a manner which will be illustrated hereinafter. It is preferable to secure a protecting cover 18 on the end of the bobbin holder 1 by a bolt 18b, so as to prevent hurting any portions of the human body. The protecting cover 18 is provided with a pair of cut out portions 18a which are formed at the corresponding position to the cut portions 1a, lb of the bobbin holder 1 so that the function of the catcher 17 is not affected.

The above-mentioned catching device of the present invention is operated as hereinafter illustrated. Referring to FIGS. 1, 5A, 5B and 5C, during the winding operation, the supplied yarn 39 is led to the bobbin 3a via a guide roller 23, the yarn sliding guide bar 2, a traverse guide 34 (not shown) of the traverse frame 4 and a roller 21. When the package becomes a predetermined full size as shown in FIG. 5A, the suction aperture 19 of the suction means 20 is firstly opened by turning the handle 36 so as to be able to suck the free end of the supplied yarn 39, and then the supplied yarn 39 is cut, next the free end of the supplied yarn is led to the suction aperture 19 manually. Therefore, the supplied yarn 39 is fed into the suction means 20 via the guide roller 23, the yarn sliding guide bar 2, and the suction aperture 19, as shown in FIG. 58. At this stage, the full package bobbin 3b is taken from the bobbin holder 1 and next a fresh bare bobbin is mounted on the bobbin holder 1. ln the above-mentioned manual operation, a portable suction device (not shown) can be used for catching the cut end of the supplied yarn after cutting the yarn. In this case, the end of supplied yarn can be straightway led to the suction aperture 19 by transferring the free end of the supplying yarn to suction aperture 19 by means of a proper portable suction device or manually. As an additional alternative method for leading the supplied yarn into the suction aperture 19, the cutting operation is carried out after leading the supplied yarn into the suction means 20, that is, a portion of the supplied yarn between the full package 3b and the traverse guide 34 is caught by a hook (not shown) and this portion of the yarn is led to the suction aperture 19 after opening by the handle 36. Next the yarn between the full package 3b and the suction aperture 19 is cut manually.

After mounting the bare bobbin 3a upon the bobbin holder 1, the lever 35 is operated as already illustrated so as to release the locking of the wedge mechanism 25 by way of rotation of the horizontal shaft 15, and the traverse frame 4 is turned about the holding stud 6 counterclockwise in FIG. 5B until the traverse frame 4 is positioned at its starting position as shown in FIG. 5C. During the above-mentioned displacing motion of the traverse frame 4, the lever handle 14 is urged towards the projection 22 manually so that lever handle 14 is turned about the shaft 15 continuously. Therefore, the sprocket wheel 12 is rotated counterclockwise, that is, the yarn conducting or guiding lever 11 is turned counter-clockwise together with the conducting lever shaft 10 until the displacing motion of the traversing frame 4 is stopped. As already illustrated, the curved portion 11a of the yarn conducting lever 11 catches a portion of the supplied yarn between the yarn sliding guide bar 2 and the suction aperture 19 during its turning motion and displaces the contacted portion of the yarn to the position as shown in FIG. 5C. By this motion, the supplied yarn between the yarn sliding guide bar 2 and the suction aperture 19 passes along two straight-line paths 40a, 40b defined by the final position of the yarn conducting lever 11. The final position of the yarn conducting lever 11 is so arranged that the yarn pass 40a passes across the rotational locus of the catcher 17 mounted on the bobbin holder 1 and thus the yarn may be caught by this catcher 17. As athe S-shape portion 2a of the yarn sliding guide bar 2 does not extend beyond the position of the catcher 17, the yarn caught by the catcher is would around said bobbin holder 1 by its rotation. However the yarn extending from said catcher 17 to the contact point between said yarn the and curved portion 11a of the yarn conducting lever 11 is turned to form a balloon. That is, it is turned in such a way that the rotational locus of the yarn forms a conical shape wherein the top is the contact point of the yarn with the yarn conducting lever 11 and the bottom is the protecting cover 18. A twist is applied'to the remaining yarn between said contact point 11a and the suction aperture 19. In this condition, the yarn between the protecting cover 18 and the S-shaped portion 2a of the yarn sliding guide bar 2 can be caught by the traverse guide 34 of the traverse frame 4 during the motion of the traverse guide. Therefore, when the yarn is caught up by the traverse guide, winding commences upon the bare bobbin 3a The lever 35 and the lever handle 14 are urged to the projection 22 for a few seconds until the abovementioned preparation has been completed, and when the urging of the lever handle 14 and the lever 35 is released after completion of the above-mentioned preparation, the yarn conducting lever 11 is turned to its original position by the action of the spring 16. Q

When the normal winding operation is commenced. a cutter 37 mounted on the suction means 20 is actuated to cut the yarn between yarn conducting lever 11 and the suction aperture 19 and then the suction aperture 19 is closed by turning the handle 36. By these operation, the excess yarn is sucked into the suction means 20 while the remaining twisted, due to the rotation of the protecting cover 18.

As mentioned above, the mechanism of the catching device of the present invention is very simple, however, the function of it is very speedy and reliable, and further, the operating efficiency is very high. Thus the catching device of the present invention is a very practical mechanism which can be applied for the spindle winder.

What is claimed is:

1. In a winding mechanism provided with a spindle with a bobbin holder for mounting a bobbin and a traverse mechanism having a traverse guide for leading a supplied yarn to a bobbin mounted on said'bobbin holder during operation of the winding mechanism and a shifting mechanism for relatively shifting said traverse mechanism from a starting position to a doffing position for doffing a full packaged bobbin, an improve ment comprising a guide bar mounted on said traverse mechanism and extending along said bobbin holder to an extent no further than a free end portion of said bobbin holder, said guide bar having a curved portion at a free end thereof, suction means disposed below said spindle in spaced-apart relationship from said bobbin holder, a guiding lever engageable with the supplied yarn for guiding same along a yarn passage between said curved portion of said guide bar and said suction means at a predetermined position for leading the yarn in a contacting condition with a free end portion of said bobbin holder, at least one yarn catcher mounted on said free end portion of said bobbin holder for catching the supplied yarn to initiate winding of the yarn onto the bobbin, a turnable shaft disposed below said traverse mechanism and having said guiding lever mounted thereon, means for turning said shaft together with the turning motion of said traverse mechanism from its doffing position to its starting position to effect corresponding turning of said guiding lever whereby the yarn is caught by said guiding lever and positioned along said yarn passage so that the yarn may be caught by said yarn catcher and then caught by said traverse guide, whereby a winding operation of the yarn onto the bobbin can be commenced.

2. An improvement of a yarn winder according to claim 1, wherein said suction means includes means defining a suction aperture having a shutter disposed prises a sprocket wheel mounted on said shaft, a dog lever turnably mounted on a part of said means for releasing said wedge mechanism, a spring secured at one end upon a portion of said bracket, a chain connected at one end to the other end of said spring and connected at the other end to a bottom end portion of said dog lever while engaging with said sprocket wheel, whereby when said dog lever is turned, said chain is driven in a way that said spring is extended so that said guiding lever can be turned outwardly. 

1. In a winding mechanism provided with a spindle with a bobbin holder for mounting a bobbin and a traverse mechanism having a traverse guide for leading a supplied yarn to a bobbin mounted on said bobbin holder during operation of the winding mechanism and a shifting mechanism for relatively shifting said traverse mechanism from a starting position to a doffing position for doffing a full packaged bobbin, an improvement comprising a guide bar mounted on said traverse mechanism and extending along said bobbin holder to an extent no further than a free end portion of said bobbin holder, said guide bar having a curved portion at a free end thereof, suction means disposed below said spindle in spaced-apart relationship from said bobbin holder, a guiding lever engageable with the supplied yarn for guiding same along a yarn passage between said curved portion of said guide bar and said suction means at a predetermined position for leading the yarn in a contacting condition with a free end portion of said bobbin holder, at least one yarn catcher mounted on said free end portion of said bobbin holder for catching the supplied yarn to initiate winding of the yarn onto the bobbin, a turnable shaft disposed below said traverse mechanism and having said guiding lever mounted thereon, means for turning said shaft together with the turning motion of said traverse mechanism from its doffing position to its starting position to effect corresponding turning of said guiding lever whereby the yarn is caught by said guiding lever and positioned along said yarn passage so that the yarn may be caught by said yarn catcher and then caught by said traverse guide, whereby a winding operation of the yarn onto the bobbin can be commenced.
 2. An improvement of a yarn winder according to claim 1, wherein said suction means includes means defining a suction aperture having a shutter disposed therein and a handle for opening and closing said shutter.
 3. An improvement of a yarn winder according to claim 1, wherein said shifting mechanism comprises a bracket having said traverse mechanism mounted thereon, a holding bar secured to a machine frame, means turnably mounting said bracket on said holding bar, a wedge mechanism for controlling the turning motion of said traverse mechanism, and means for releasing said wedge mechanism.
 4. An improvement of a yarn winder according to claim 3, wherein said means for turning said shaft comprises a sprocket wheel mounted on said shaft, a dog lever turnably mounted on a part of said means for releasing said wedge mechanism, a spring secured at one end upon a portion of said bracket, a chain connected at one end to the other end of said spring and connected at the other end to a bottom end portion of said dog lever while engaging with said sprocket wheel, whereby when said dog lever is turned, said chain is driven in a way that said spring is extended so that said guiding lever can be turned outwardly. 